Gulf Arabs Donate $100M To Ivanka Trump-Inspired Women’s Foundation

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By Daniel J. Solomon May 22, 2017

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have decided to pour money into a women’s entrepreneurship fund run by the World Bank and inspired by Ivanka Trump following her father’s visit to the Arab world.

“We thought it was a fantastic idea,” World Bank President Jim Young Kim said, when news of the $100 million donation broke. “This is really a stunning achievement. I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly, and I really have to say that Ivanka’s leadership has been tremendous.”

While Trump is not running the fund, she proposed its creation to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a recent foreign trip. The World Bank hopes to raise up to $1 billion for women’s empowerment initiatives.

The first daughter accompanied the president on his inaugural mission abroad as president, the initial stop of which was Saudi Arabia, where he and his family were warmly received.

The White House and the Saudis have actively worked for rapprochement in order to fight terrorism – with the president vowing to avoid criticism of Saudi Arabia’s dismal record on women’s rights and other human rights issues.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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